"Auntie Diaries" is a song by American rapper

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

from his fifth studio album '' Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers'' (2022). The fifteenth track on ''Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers'' and the sixth track on the album's second half, "Auntie Diaries" was produced by an ensemble of producers, including Beach Noise, Bekon & The Donuts, Craig Balmoris, Daniel Tannenbaum, and Tyler Mehlenbacher. "Auntie Diaries" covers themes of

transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger to ...

. In the song, Lamar directly addresses his perspective on the

gender transition Gender transition is the process of changing one's gender presentation or sex characteristics to accord with one's internal sense of gender identity – the idea of what it means to be a man or a woman,Brown, M. L. & Rounsley, C. A. (1996) ''True ...

of his uncle and cousin. Although praised by many transgender activists and personalities, Lamar's use of the slur ''

faggot Faggot, faggots, or faggoting may refer to: Arts and crafts * Faggoting (metalworking), forge welding a bundle of bars of iron and steel * Faggoting (knitting), variation of lace knitting in which every stitch is a yarn over or a decrease * F ...

'' and direct approach towards the subject received critique and incited controversy. Lamar at the end of the song leaves listeners with a question to ponder about his use of the slur by telling the story of a previous performance in which he brought out a white female fan to perform his song with him but disapproved of her usage of the word

nigga ''Nigga'' () is a colloquial and vulgar term used in African-American Vernacular English that began as a dialect form of the word ''nigger'', an ethnic slur against black people. The word is commonly associated with hip hop music and Afri ...

as part of the song, speaking in third person and critiquing himself as a hypocrite. In the United States, "Auntie Diaries" reached number 47 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 21 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart.

Background

On April 18, 2022, Kendrick Lamar announced a new album, titled ''Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers'', his fifth studio album following the release of '' Damn'' (2017). The announcement was made through his website, oklama.com, launched in August 2021.

Composition and lyrics

Musically, "Auntie Diaries" is sonically apathetic. Narration from German spiritual teacher

Eckhart Tolle Eckhart Tolle ( ; ; born Ulrich Leonard Tölle, February 16, 1948) is a German-born spiritual teacher and self-help author of ''The Power of Now'' and '' A New Earth''. After being recommended by Oprah Winfrey, his first book, ''The Power of No ...

is sampled at the beginning of the song, followed by Lamar's verses. The song is a reflection upon Lamar's acceptance of

s within his family; the first verse of the song begins, "My auntie is a man now". Lamar's uncle and cousin are both

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

. "Auntie Diaries" continues the confessional motif of ''Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers''. In the song, from the perspective of his younger self, Lamar repeatedly uses the word ''

'', misgenders his family's pronouns, and deadnames his family and Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner. The song culminates in Lamar as an adult confronting a minister, questioning the loving thy neighbor in regards to

Christianity and homosexuality Throughout the majority of Christian history, most Christian theologians Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, ...

, stating, "The laws of the land or the heart, what's greater?"

Credits and personnel

Personnel *

songwriter, production * Daniel Tannenbaum production *

Homer Steinweiss Homer Steinweiss is an American drummer, songwriter, and producer known as a prominent drummer in the New York soul revival scene. He is a founding member and drummer of groups including Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Lee Fields & The Expression ...

production * Craig Balmoris production * Daniel Krieger production * Beach Noise production * Jake Kosich production * Johnny Kosich production, engineer * Matt Schaeffer production, engineer * Sergiu Gherman production * Tyler Mehlenbacher production Information taken from the ''Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers'' liner notes and

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

Charts

References

{{Kendrick Lamar songs 2022 songs Kendrick Lamar songs Songs written by Kendrick Lamar Transgender-related songs LGBT-related songs